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Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Last Tuesday, in Maastricht, I gave one of two lectures I presented in a series (the other was on the previous Monday night). The first lecture, which was public, focused on the Eurozone disaster and I outlined why an orderly breakup of the failed monetary union would be in the best interest of all (I will post video of that lecture next Monday). The next lecture, which was to staff and students only, focused on the failure of macroeconomics and I juxtaposed fake news with the fake knowledge of mainstream macroeconomics. I want to expand a little on that topic. The Wall Street Journal published an article last week (March 6, 2017) – Everything the Market Thinks About Inflation Might Be Wrong – which bears on the validity of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) relative to mainstream monetary economics. What I would call actual knowledge (MMT) and fake knowledge (mainstream theory). The article is not without its issues but it correctly notes that the underlying basis of orthodox inflation theory is false and fails to explain movements in inflation.The second lecture I gave last week is available via this blog – The failure of economics – reality and language – if you haven’t already caught up with it.

The theme of my talk was that the mainstream macroeconomists of my profession essentially peddle fake knowledge and have been doing so for some decades.They hide their myths behind an elaborate facade of technicality accompanied by bravado and arrogance and stand ready to bully any dissent into submission at the drop of a hat....